What Have Italy and Egypt Got in Common?

Key Facts

Both Italy and Egypt are home to brilliant people but struggle with a rotten system, as noted by journalist Ben Wedeman.Wedeman's insights highlight a cultural connection, suggesting Italians are Egyptians with nice shoes, reflecting shared traits.Both nations are undergoing transitional phases, with Egypt facing challenges marked by violence, while Italy's changes have been relatively peaceful.

Both nations share the same assets: Brilliant people, and both suffer from the same problem: a rotten system.

“Brilliant people, rotten system,” was the poignant observation of Ben Wedeman, CNN’s senior correspondent in Cairo, Egypt via Twitter.

I have to say I wholeheartedly agree with Wedeman’s observations so far as it applies to Italy – very apt indeed. Journalist Wedeman has spent many years in Egypt, and so he knows the country, its system and people very well.

Wedeman also knows Italy rather well too, as you will discover from my update below.

What sparked Wedeman’s observation was a chat we had on Twitter the other day. Yes, you get to meet (Tweet?!) some very interesting people on Twitter, and Wedeman follows my @newsfromitaly Twitter handle too.

Although I’ve yet to discover exactly why, Wedeman seems to have an interest in Italy – we started our Twitter chat after he’d retweeted this about Italy:

“@newsfromitaly: Moves are afoot to cut Italy’s notorious reams of red tape bit.ly/R9dEf0 (IT) #Italy #news” …And pigs will fly.

— benwedeman (@bencnn) October 17, 2012

UPDATE: 23 October, 2012: I have learned from Wedeman himself, that he is married to an Italian and is currently based in Rome. Not only does he know Egypt very well, he also knows more than a thing or two about Italy.

Aside from his “Brilliant people, rotten system” comment, Wedeman provided insight into how Egyptians view Italians:

@newsfromitaly A friend in Cairo once told me Italians are Egyptians with nice shoes.

— benwedeman (@bencnn) October 17, 2012

I thought “Italians are Egyptians with nice shoes” was lovely!

Something else these two Mediterranean nations have in common is that both are in the midst of transitional phases. While Egypt’s attempts to sort out its rotten system have been, alas, marred by pain, violence, and death, Italy’s rot-removal process has, so far, remained largely non-violent.

Roll on the day when both nations have the systems their populations’ merit.

One sign of progress might be when Egyptians start wearing nice shoes. Italian shoes, maybe.

Test your knowledge

Chad

+Alex Roe is from the UK, but has lived and worked in Milan, Italy, for many years. Alex has been interviewed by the BBC on Italy issues. He tweets news and information about Italy to over 37,000 Twitter followers via @newsfromitaly on Twitter.

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